Dancing with Fools
by EbonyShroud
Summary: The Feast of Fools has returned to Paris, although Quasimodo does not wish to join the festivities due to the treatment he had received the year before. However, with encouragement from Clopin and Esmeralda, he decides to go to the festival with them.
1. Chapter 1

The streets of Paris rang with bright voices, loud laughter, and instruments playing lively songs. The excitement bursting from the throngs seemed to float in the air. Quasimodo leaned against the stone railings above the city and stared down at the people gathering in the square in front of the cathedral of Notre Dame. He knew what the day was and why all these people were flocking to the square. It was the sixth of January, the Festival of Fools. A year ago, he wished to be among those joyful crowds; to dance, to sing, to be accepted by the outside world as a person. That wish had brought him into the light when he went to the festival, hoping to live a day as a normal person before returning to the belltower. He was accepted at first, but when he was pulled onto stage and declared the King of Fools, he was strapped to a wheel and had food thrown at him. Even after being accepted by the populace of Paris after the death of Judge Frollo, he felt compelled to stay in the tower to avoid bring back the painful memories of the previous festival.

"Quasimodo, are you still up there?" A female voice called to him from inside the tower. Quasimodo turned and walked into the tower. He stopped at the entrance when he saw her come up the stairs. Her bright green eyes scanned the room before catching sight of him. A bright smile spread across her face.

"There you are, we were looking for you. You do know that Clopin has been waiting for you downstairs, right? Clopin has been getting annoyed that the festival has not started yet and Phoebus is becoming annoyed at Clopin. We should go before they start arguing again," Esmeralda called.

"Can you tell Clopin that I can not come? I… do not feel well," Quasimodo replied, looking towards the floor. He felt ashamed to lie to Esmeralda, the first person to see past his face and accept him as a person. Her smile vanished and she walked into the room. Quasimodo looked up and noticed that she was wearing a similar costume to the one she wore to the Festival of Fools last year, she wore a long blue skirt with a purple sash tied around her waist. Her white blouse was tucked neatly into her skirt and she wore simple black shoes. Around her skirt, a grey head poked out and bleated at him, her goat Djali.

"You do not feel well?" Esmeralda asked, her voice heavy with both concern and slight suspicion.

"I will watch the festivities from here in the tower. Please don't worry about me," Quasimodo replied with a faint smile. Her green eyes darkened and her smile vanished.

"What is wrong, Quasimodo? It is not like you to lie to me," She asked with a sigh, brushing her hair away from her face. Quasimodo opened his mouth to reply, but then someone else's voice interrupted him.

"Esmeralda, your friend Clopin is being rather bothersome. Could you please quiet him and keep him docile so that the Archdeacon does not throw us out of the cathedral?" Phoebus's voice rang as he walked in. He smiled at Quasimodo in greetings before returning his gaze to Esmeralda.

"Is it the Archdeacon or you that wishes him to stop?" Esmeralda replied with a laugh, only to hear another laugh that made Quasimodo grimace.

"It is the captain that wishes me silenced, of course. Is the captain not supposed to have patience? So, this is where you've been hiding this whole time!" Clopin called as he walked up the stairs, his smile visible under his bright purple mask. His smile seemed rather forced towards Quasimodo, but Quasimodo already knew why Clopin was vexed.

"I can not go back down there, Clopin. Maybe next year I will come, but…" Quasimodo called, hoping to stop and argument with the gypsy.

"But, you must come this year! You are the old king, the King of Fools that will be succeeded by another fool drawn from the lot of commoners! You must come!" Clopin replied with a bright smile that meant that he was determined to make Quasimodo go to the festival, whether he wanted to or not.

"Clopin, maybe we should not make him go to the festival. He was treated badly when he was crowned last year," Esmeralda answered, glaring at Clopin.

"So a few tomatoes were thrown at you, the past is the past! It won't happen again, let me assure you! Let us go down to the festival to dance, sing, and revel with the commoners of Paris!" Clopin replied merrily as he walked towards Quasimodo, the bells on his costume jingling with each determined step. With a pat on the back and a winning smile on his face, Clopin pushed Quasimodo towards the stairs.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Quasimodo found himself staring at the doors to the cathedral. Clopin was humming merrily, the tune the same as the one he sang when he started the festival the year before. Esmeralda smiled encouragingly down at him, Phoebus was watching the nearby priest who was glowering at Clopin and Esmeralda.

"Must I do this?" Quasimodo asked Esmeralda, hoping for an answer that could let him return to the belltower in peace. Clopin glared at Esmeralda as if to keep her from saying no, which made Esmeralda laugh.

"I am sorry, Quasimodo, but you have to come. We will not let anyone throw rotten food at you," She replied softly. Quasimodo smiled, feeling slightly better from her comforting words.

"…_Close the churches and the schools, today's the day for breaking rules, come and join the Feast of Fools!_" Clopin sang happily to himself as he pushed open the doors, blinding them with harsh sunlight as they opened.


	2. Chapter 2

As the doors swung out, several people turned to see who was coming out. In an instant, Clopin ran out into the crowd and vanished, leaving the three alone in the doorway. Esmeralda and Phoebus walked into the sunlight, leaving Quasimodo to follow them. Several people stared at him, wide questioning eyes latching onto his features and their mouths hanging in a mixture of disgust, surprise, and fear. Quasimodo tried to ignore the stares as they reached the bottom of the cathedral's steps. At the other end of the plaza, the crowd began whooping and singing. The Feast of Fools had begun.

"Captain, the festival has started," A guard said as he rushed up, pulling Phoebus's annoyed horse behind him. The gray horse snorted at Phoebus and gently butted his head against Esmeralda. Djali pranced up to the horse and bleated, its little bleat was completely ignored by the larger animal.

"Thank you for informing me and bringing Achilles, Lieutenant. You may return to your post," Pheobus said as he took the horse away from the lieutenant. The horse huffed towards the lieutenant, who quickly backed away from the horse.

"Stop that, Achilles. I told you before to stop scaring the guards," Phoebus scolded. The horse huffed and flicked its tail, but its dark eyes with sparkling with mischief. He shook his head in mock frustration before he pulled himself up onto the horse's saddle.

"It's time to attend to duties. Have fun at the festival, Quasi," He said before he nudged his horse. Achilles shook its head before plodding into the crowd.

"Come on," Esmeralda said before she gently took Quasimodo's hand and began leading him through the large crowd.

* * *

As they weaved through the crowd, people called out hellos to them. Often, they were greeting Esmeralda, stopping for brief conversations before they continued their trek. However, many gypsies and children stopped to say hello to Quasimodo, smiles on their faces as they approached him with questions about how he was enjoying the festival and how he was feeling.

"Look, they're selling paint at this stall," Esmeralda said as she pulled Quasimodo to a shabbily-crafted stall. The table was covered in a cream cloth with the occasional paint splatter on its surface.

"Good afternoon, Esmeralda. It's strange to see you here," The gypsy boy at the stand said in surprise.

"Hello, Tobias. I'm here with my friend, Quasimodo," She replied as she tugged Quasimodo forward.

"Oh, I didn't see you. Hello, your highness. Did you want to look at the paints? My mama and I make the best paints in Paris," The boy said before he pulled out several clay pots. Quasimodo looked up at Esmeralda, prepared with a question, but she shook her head and smiled.

"See, we have red and yellow and green!" The boy said as he took out a small horse-tail brush from the satchel he wore. He dipped the brush into one pot and painted it on the fabric, leaving a small trail of beautiful dark red. He wiped the brush on his trousers and repeated painting the fabric until all three colors were shown.

"What about blue or orange?" Esmeralda asked.

"No orange, we didn't have enough yellow to make orange. And blue's a hard color. Mama makes it sometimes and sells it, but only for special customers. Very rare, she says. She won't even allow me to touch it, cause she thinks I will spill and ruin it," Tobias replied with a shake of his head.

"Why is blue a hard color to make?" Quasimodo asked.

"Well, I don't know. Guess it's cause the plants or rocks hard to find," The boy said.

"I've run out of green paint…" Quasimodo muttered as he stared at the green streak. Esmeralda smiled before she leaned over the table and whispered to the boy. He whispered something back and Esmeralda agreed to whatever he had said. He smiled and dove beneath the table, returning with two bigger clay pots.

"Here you go," He said as he placed the pots on the table, opening the pots so that Esmeralda could be certain of what was in the pots. She quickly checked before she fished out a small fabric satchel and pulled out several coins. She deposited the coins onto the boy's palm.

"Thank you, Esmeralda," He said as he placed the coins into the satchel.

"Quasimodo, these are for you," She said, plucking the two pots from the table and holding them out to him.

"Oh no, I really can't accept!" Quasimodo stammered, feeling embarrassed that he had complained about the paint.

"Why not?" Esmeralda asked, annoyance leeching into her voice. He looked up at her face, noticing the annoyed look in her eyes, and sighed. He gently took the pots from her hands, holding them carefully so that he wouldn't break them.

"Thank you," He said quietly.

"You are welcome. Let's move along," She said before she turned and started walking down the line of vendors.

"Bye Esmeralda, your highness!" Tobias called out as they walked on.

"Why did he call me that?" He asked as soon as they were out of ear-shot of the boy.

"Because you are still the King of Fools, of course. Don't worry, they mean no harm in their words," Esmeralda whispered back before she stopped at another stall.

"Esmeralda, girl, where have you been? I haven't seen you in a long time!" The man in the stall roared, startling several ladies who had been examining the nearby stall.

"Hello, Gustav," She replied with a wide happy grin.

"Oh, Esmeralda! I was wondering who he was talking to. Welcome, it has been a while," A cheerful gypsy woman said as she bustled towards them. Gustav grumbled good-naturally before he walked towards the back of the stall.

"It has been a while, Belle. How're the children?" Esmeralda asked.

"The usual, being fussy and messy and pretending to ignore me. You'll probably see them out in the festival today, I gave them a few coins and let them wander around," The woman said with a bemused smile on her face.

"I should move on, so that customers can come and see your wares. Goodbye," Esmeralda said,

"Bye, Esmeralda, and tell that captain husband of yours that I said hello," The woman called out as they left the stall. Esmeralda stifled a smile as she and Quasimodo kept walking through the excited crowd.


End file.
